Folding steel measure



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.W. L. E. KEUPFBL. FOLDING STEEL MEASURE.

N0. 496,123. Patented Apr. 25, 1893.

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' UNTTED STATES PATENT FFICE.

\VILLIE L. E. KEUFFEL, OF HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

FOLDING STEEL MEASURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 496,123, dated April25, 1893.

Application filed June '7, 1892. Serial No. 435,849. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIE L. E. KEUFFEL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Hoboken, Hudson county, New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Steel Measures,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in folding-measures of that classwhich are made of steel-links that are pivoted together and adapted tobe folded so that they can be conveniently carried in the pocket orextended for use; and the invention consists of a folding-measure formedof graduated links and pivoted in such a manner that the pivots ofadjacent links when they are folded up, are not axially in line witheach other, but located alternately sidewise of each other, one inside,the other outside, so as to permit of the more convenient folding of thelinks, as will be fully described hereinafter and finally pointed out inthe claims.

Inthe accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspective view ofmy improved folding steel-measure, shown folded .up for being carried inthe pocket. Figs. 2 and 3 are diagrams, showing respectively theconstruction of the folding-measure heretofore in use and theconstruction of my improved foldingmeasure, and Fig. 4 is a verticallongitudinal section of the folding-measure, drawn on a larger scale andshowing the relative positions of the connecting pivots of adjacentlinks relatively to each other.

Similar letters and figures of reference in dicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, a a represent the links of my improvedfolding measure, which links are graduated on one or both sides andconnected at their ends by means of pivots b with the next adjacentlinks. Each link is pivoted at each end to an adjacent link, one aboveand the other below the same. Heretofore the links of the measure weremade of equal size and pivoted together at their ends, so that the linkswhen folded up one above the other brought the pivots axially in line,as indicated in the diagram shown in Fig. 2. This produced the abuttingof the heads of the pivots against each other so that the measure whenfolded, took up a larger space than required, owing to the distance atwhich the links were held by the abutting pivots. the purpose ofavoiding this objection, the links are pivoted in such a manner that thepivots are not axially in line with each other, but are arranged so asto alternate with each other, as indicated in the diagram shown in Fig.3, whereby a folding-measure is obtained in which the ends of one pairof links project alternately over the intermediate pair of pivotedlinks, as shown in Fig. 1. This is accomplished by making the links, ofwhich my improved measure is made, of three different lengths, the firstand third links being of equal length, while the second and fourth linksare respectively somewhat longer and shorter than the medium-lengthlinks 1 and 3, as shown in Fig. 3. By this arrangement the alternatingpositions of the pivots and the alternating projecting of the ends ofone pair of links over the adjacent links are produced. Every four linksform a group by which two pairs of adjacent links are produced, of whichthe pairof linksformed bythesecond and third links project over the pairof links formed by the fourth link of one group and the first link ofthe next adjacent group. The longer link 2 of each group produces theprojecting of the pair at the ends over the links of smaller size, sothat the alternating positions of the pivots and the alternatingextending of one pair of links over the next adjacent pair are produced,as shown in Figs. 1, and 3. These two features are the characteristicfeatures of my improved folding steel-measure and permit thereby thefolding up of the same into a smaller compass.

Each link a is further provided at each side of its pivot connectionwith the next adjacent link a with an indentation d, which indentationsform correspondingly raised portions at the opposite side of the link,the raised portions interlocking with the indentations or depressions ofthe next adjacent links, when the links are folded one above the other,whereby a locking action is exerted on the links whenthey are moved ontheir pivots in line with each other. When the links are extended, theyare rigidly held in position, by the interlocking of the indentationswith the radial portions of the adjacent links, so that the steelmeasure can be used without causing any change in the relative positionsof the For ber of folding links alternately pivoted tolinks. Theinterlocking of the links is also obtained when they are infoldedposition,one above the other, whereby the handling and use of this classof measures are rendered much more convenient as the application of thesame can be greatly extended and these measures used for many purposesfor which they were not used heretofore.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. A folding measure, composed of a number of foldinglinks of different lengths, said links being alternately pivotedtogether at their ends, the pivots of the respective pairs of linksbeing arranged to avoid contact with the pivots'of the-adjacent pairs oflinks when the measure is folded, substantially as set forth.

2. A folding measure composed ofa numgetherat their ends, said linksbeing arranged in groups'of four, eachgroup being formed of threedifferent lengths, the first and third links of the group being of thesame length, the second link of thegroup being of greater length, Whilethe fourth is of shorter length than the first and third links, saidlinks being alternately pivoted together at their ends, the pivots ofthe respective pairs of links being arranged to avoid contact with thepivots of the adjacent pairs of links when the measure is folded,substantially as set forth.

3. A folding measure, composed of a number of folding links pivotedtogether at alternating ends, said links being provided near the pivotswith depressions at one side and corresponding raised portions at theopposite side, whereby the links are adapted to interlock with eachother when in folded-and extended positions, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as 'my invention I havesigned-my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIE L. E. KEUFFEL. Witnesses:

PAUL GOEPEL, CHARLES 'SCHROEDER.

